


The Grey Coat

by CapturetheFinnick



Series: Waverly and Jeremy: The University Years [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 06:03:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14490423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapturetheFinnick/pseuds/CapturetheFinnick
Summary: His eyes drifted to the coat rack. There hung a long, grey, coat; nothing special about it, apart from the fact that Jeremy had literally never seen it before in his life. He tilted his head, making a mental note to ask Waverly if she’d gotten a new coat (but then wouldn’t she have taken it with her?). A mystery.~Waverly claims she's not seeing anyone, but Jeremy can see right through her, no less because he keeps finding various new items of clothing all over their flat. It starts with a grey coat hanging in the hallway, but sooner or later new clues keep popping up and Jeremy is determined to work out who is Waverly's new 'mystery woman' (which definitely has nothing to do with procrastinating his final exam.)





	The Grey Coat

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the time of year where I have final essays and exams and I always decide to write fic for the first time in months!!  
> This was also based on the prompt 'a grey coat' which I got from here http://wintryescapades.tumblr.com/post/42004299994/february-prompts (which yes those are february daily prompts but I'm terrible what can I say?) I've had this idea since January soo..

Waverly rubbed her eyes as she walked into the kitchen, the light shifting through the blinds and making her squint.

“So,” Jeremy said, clutching a mug of coffee in his hand, “the vampire has arisen.” He shot her a smug grin, almost subconsciously shifting his eyes towards the (roman numeral) clock that was sat solitarily on their kitchen wall (Waverly had got overexcited at a arts fair and paid too much for it – she and Jeremy had lost enthusiasm for decorating pretty quickly).

“It’s not that late,” Waverly rolled her eyes, pulling a hair band from her wrist and messily tying her hair up – somewhere half between a ponytail and a bun – as long as it was out of her face she didn’t care.

“It’s twelve?”

“What?” Waverly said, her eyes widening and shifting towards the window, as if she could ever tell the time of day from the thick, grey smog that always smothered the city, engulfing it inside its cavernous mouth, leaving it perpetually semi-dark and semi-cold. Waverly pulled her phone out of her pyjama pocket, her eyes widening further. “Shit!” she exclaimed, “I’m going to be late for work.” She moved quickly towards the fridge, grabbing a bottle of milk and drinking it straight from the bottle.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said, “I know I’m a mess, I’m getting my act together okay,” she laughed, shaking her head, “any day now!” Waverly hastily ran to her room, “I mean it Jer I can feel your judgement following me.”

“I’m not saying anything!” Jeremy shouted after her,

“You don’t have to!”

Waverly threw her clothes all over the floor, mentally sighing at the cleaning she was going to have to do later; future Waverly was going to _hate her._  A long shift to come home to a swamp of clothing was not anyone’s idea of a good time. She rummaged through her draws for her work shirt she _knew_ she’d washed the other day ready for this shift (spoiler alert; she hadn’t, it was in her washing basket). She found one shoe behind her door and spent five minutes shouting and rummaging through the piles of clothes that now adorned all of her floor before finding it under the bed (she figured if Jeremy’s eyebrows raised any higher they would climb off of his face.) Not having time to eat anything, she quickly grabbed her coat from the hook, scanning the room quickly, and taking a breath before yelling bye and shutting the door.

Jeremy rolled his eyes, returning to the kitchen table, his laptop and a half-eaten croissant awaited him. His eyes drifted to the coat rack. There hung a long, grey, coat; nothing special about it, apart from the fact that Jeremy had literally never seen it before in his life. He tilted his head, making a mental note to ask Waverly if she’d gotten a new coat (but then wouldn’t she have taken it with her?). A mystery. He rolled his eyes, slouching down in the kitchen chair for another day of statistical analysis revision. Twas the season (not that you could tell from the weather – definite seasons, what was that like?)

~  


Next time Jeremy saw Waverly she was wearing a woollen hat, inside.

“I’ve given up on washing my hair okay?” she said, looking up from where her eyes were glued to her computer screen.

“I didn’t say anything,”

“I could feel you looking.”  She paused, “I’m so busy - I’ve got three assignments due this week.” Waverly sighed, resting her head on the palm of her hand, “I feel like I haven’t sat down in three weeks,” she said, picking up her phone, frowning before placing it back down on the wooden table, face down.

“You okay?” Jeremy said, pulling up a seat next to her.

“Yeah good,” she said, shaking her head as if having a second thought, “actually no, stressed.” She said, motioning to her current state (she may or may not have been wearing an old tour t-shirt that came down to her knees, and her favourite old pair of pink, fluffy unicorn socks).

“You want to pull a classic all-nighter?” Jeremy grinned, “Get some pizza, go to the library, we can listen to old Taylor Swift albums.”

Waverly smiled, her eyes drifting to where her phone lay, her smile turning quickly into a frown. “Sorry” she said absentmindedly, eyes still on the phone, “I’ve got plans.”

“Ooh anything you want to tell me about?” Jeremy said, raising his eyebrows.

“No nothing like that,” Waverly said, Jeremy noting the way her cheeks turned a little redder. Waverly could no longer hide things like that from him; two years of living with someone through hell (or essay deadlines, who could tell the difference?) meant that they were solidified, forever a tiny stitch in each other’s lives. “Just, you know, out with Chrissy.” She was still avoiding eye contact,

“Sure whatever you say Waverly,” Jeremy said under his breath, smiling as he backed into his room for another night of revision (three days till he was free again.) His eyes drifted to the coat rack. The grey coat was still there but now there was a red, woollen hat pinned on top of it. A different woollen hat from the one Waverly had atop of her head. Jeremy frowned before shaking his head, slouching back down at his desk.

~

Jeremy had all but forgotten about the coat mystery the next time he came home. It’d been a long day of studying – his laptop had died half way through at the exact time the rain started to pour outside. As he’d trekked home, feet sodden, his hood not any protection against the winds, he’d been convinced it’d been a sign from god telling him to drop out of statistical analysis and become a goat herder somewhere in rural Scandinavia. And that offer was becoming more and more tantalising. Safe to say he wasn’t feeling best. And there it hung, the long grey coat of mystery. Only now, underneath the coat rack, thrown alongside Waverly’s brown satchel and her _practical_ black ankle boots, were another pair of shoes, black doc martens. Jeremy leant against the wall, staring at them as he attempted to peel the wet hoodie off, running his hand through his soaking hair. They were battered, the laces tattered, the heels scuppered, in other words they weren’t what anybody would consider new.  He paused, tilting his head. And as if his senses had been heightened, Jeremy heard faint giggling from down the hall, followed by Waverly shushing someone. _The plot thickens_. Jeremy shook his head.

“Waves I’m home!” he shouted out, the last thing he needed was a repeat of the time he’d walked in on Waverly in a _compromised_ position.

He heard Waverly hush the mystery woman once more, coyly shutting the door behind her.

“Oh god is it raining out there?” Waverly laughed. She definitely wasn’t as observant as Jeremy (or she’d been _distracted.)_

“You think so?” Jeremy said motioning towards his clothes which were still slowly dripping onto their fake linoleum tiles. “Somebody here?” he said, nodding in the direction of her door.

“Oh!” she said, caught off guard, eyes widening, “Just Chrissy, you know,” she rushed, “study sessions – has turned mostly to talking though –“she spluttered, “we just distract each other.” Jeremy noticed that same faint blush across her cheeks again. _Someone_ had distracted her and he was fairly certain it wasn’t Chrissy. Still he was too tired to pursue it right then.

“Have fun _studying.”_ Jeremy said, opening the fridge to stare at its (uninspiring) contents.

“Yeah – you too.” She said, sneaking back into her room. Jeremy shook her head, she probably thought she was being subtle. Then again, she had told Jeremy stories of Wynonna walking in on her and her first girlfriend kissing and believing the (blatant lie) that she’d collapsed and needed CPR. So maybe Waverly was just used to obliviousness.

~

Jeremy had heard Waverly leave later that evening, so he was a little more than surprised to see her sat at the table when he came down at nine for breakfast. She smiled up at him, as he placed his (frozen) bread into the toaster.

“Good morning!” she said, pulling her earphones out and pausing her video. Waverly liked to eat her breakfast to the soundtrack of clothing hauls on YouTube – it was a part of her routine she had abandoned in the past few weeks, in favour of feeling miserable and writing essays – that was all the convincing Jeremy needed; something had happened last night.

Jeremy got the box of eggs out of the fridge, cracking two into a pan already sizzling with oil. “So who’s the mystery woman?” he said, grinning.

Waverly choked on her muesli, spluttering and reaching out a hand to wash it down with some (organic) orange juice. “What?”

“The mystery woman,” Jeremy said wiggling his eyebrows, “you’re terrible at hiding things Waves and you know it.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” she said, focusing her eye line on the remaining muesli swimming like tiny pebbles in the almond milk.

“Ok,” Jeremy rolled his eyes, as he took the (slightly burnt) toast from the toaster, placing his eggs on top the toast, and then reaching for his bottle of hot sauce (Why Jeremy liked _so much_ hot sauce on his eggs Waverly would never know.)

He sat down opposite her, attempting to take a different approach.

“So you got a new coat?”

She looked puzzled, “No-“her eyes drifted to the coat rack, “Oh that I think Chrissy left it here when she was here yesterday”

“And it’s Chrissy hat, and she wears Docs?” Jeremy said, tilting his head, not believing a single word that came out of her mouth (Chrissy in docs was completely unimaginable – at odds with everything he knew about her.)

“Yes.” Waverly sighed, “And if you must know, me and Chrissy went out to that new bar last night, down fifth street?” she paused, placing another spoonful of muesli in her mouth, “And it was so good we lost track of time.”

“You’re looking good for someone with a hangover,” Jeremy said, there was something about this story that was still not adding up.

“You don’t have to drink to have a good time _Jeremy.”_ She said, emphasising her words in a way that Jeremy could tell she knew she’d won. “And I need to get up early, I’m heading to the library – got that big essay!” she said, grinning, placing her muesli bowl in the sink (to wash up later, read: much later), grabbing her satchel from the coat rack and heading out the door.

There were some major holes in Waverly’s story but Jeremy was too tired to bother to try to pick further holes in it. 

That was until he saw Chrissy later, walking across campus in her trademark green coat, paired with a blue woollen hat. Would a struggling student really have two coats, two hats? Something didn’t add up, and Jeremy was a keen procrastinator, so with Sherlock Holmes in his periphery vision, he pulled up Instagram, heading straight to Chrissy’s page only to discover there was _no_ way she could have been out with Waverly last night, given she had taken a boomerang of herself in the library at midnight. (#studentlife, complete with a crying face and a pan from a stack of books about federal law back to the old clock that hung in western library). Jeremy grinned to himself, boy did Waverly have some explaining to do.

~

Waverly piled through the door (her hair was no longer up in a bun, but had been purposefully curled), throwing her bag on the floor, and flicking on the light. She screamed, “Jeremy you scared me!”

He leaned back in the kitchen chair, a blue baseball hat sat on his head.

“What are you doing?” Waverly said, moving towards him, “Why are you wearing Ni- that hat?”

“You’re seeing someone,”

“No.”

“That-“he said, pointing towards to coat hanging on the rack just above where Waverly had just flung her satchel, “is not Chrissy’s coat, nor is it her hat.” He paused, “And Chrissy-“he motioned to that cap on his head, “hates baseball, and baseball caps don’t suit you,” he said pointedly, as if laying out information on a case across the table, a final satisfying scene in an overdrawn crime drama.  “So, what’s up?”

“One.” Waverly said, taking a seat, “this is the most extra thing you’ve ever done, you must be _so_ bored,” she laughed, “Two, I can pull off a baseball hat, so fuck you.”

“And three? You gonna tell me about mystery woman?”

“You’re an asshole,” Waverly said, laughing, “and too damn persistent – you have a final in two days Jer.”

“You’re deflecting,” he said in a sing-song voice.

Waverly paused, throwing herself down in the chair, defeated. “Fine, there’s a girl, if you must know.”

“Ha! Knew it!”

Waverly rolled her eyes, “Her name’s Nicole she’s in her final year at the police academy, and we’ve been seeing each other for three months.”

“Three months?!” Jeremy said, his chair rocketing back to the floor. “Three months and you didn’t tell me Waverly Earp? I’ve never felt more betrayed in my life.”

“Dramatic.” Waverly said, rolling her eyes.

“So can I meet her?”

“Not yet,” Waverly said and Jeremy sighed loudly, “but you can come watch Buffy with me?”

“Fine,” Jeremy said, “but soon?”

“Soon.” Waverly promised.

~  


“You off to what’shername’s – Natalie?”

“You know her name’s Nicole” Waverly said.

“You gonna finally take all her stuff back?” Jeremy laughed, motioning to the pile of clothing which now included two hoodies and a pair of trainers Nicole had apparently leant her after her heel had broken on a night out.

“If it makes you happy” Waverly rolled her eyes, “but I’m keeping this hoodie –“she said, throwing it in the vague direction of her room.

“You can pick that up later!”

“Whatever mom,” Waverly said, slamming the door behind her.

~

The battered docs were back in the hallway, and there was a long-legged (and only half dressed) red head in his kitchen, half paused in the action of filling up a glass of water - a deer caught in headlights - as if she was hoping that if she didn’t move he wouldn’t be able to see her.

“The famous Nicole,” he grinned, throwing his bag on the chair, “not how I thought we’d meet I’m not going to lie.” He stretched a hand out, and Nicole moved to pull a jumper he distinctly recognised as one of Waverly’s further down over her legs.

“I’m guessing you’re Jeremy?” she said, shaking his hand.

“Waves!” Jeremy shouted out, “Chrissy owes me money!” he laughed, “I bet her your mystery woman was a redhead.”

Waverly came around the corner, similarly dressed in what seemed to be a t-shirt hastily thrown over underwear, leaning against the door frame.

“Stop terrorising her.”

“I’m not terrorising her, it’s been a long time coming.”

“Is he terrorising you?” Waverly said, looking pointedly at Nicole who didn’t seem to know where to look, stammering,

“N- No it’s fine?”

“I’m going to face time Chrissy,” Jeremy said, whipping his phone out of his back pocket.

“You dare Jeremy I swear you’ll lose an arm. I know spirit combat!”

“It’s not a real thing!”

“Is so!” Waverly said, “Sorry my roommates a pain” she apologised to Nicole, glaring at Jeremy,

“It’s fine,” Nicole laughed, taking that as her cue to finish filling her glass up, wandering back into Waverly’s room.

“This is not over!” Jeremy laughed, “I expect a proper introduction, a formal dinner, Earp!”

“Fine.” Waverly said, slamming her door behind her.

~

“So what I’m just supposed to pretend I haven’t seen her in her underwear?” Jeremy said, as Chrissy elbowed him in the ribs,

“Just act like a regular human,” she said, her eyes falling upon Waverly and Nicole as they walked through the door.

Nicole was wearing a white shirt and a black blazer over a pair of dark blue jeans, her red hair falling just above her shoulders in perfect curls, “Jesus she’s hot,” Chrissy said,

“Now who’s the one who needs to act like a regular human?” Jeremy side-whispered,

“I was floored –“Chrissy grinned, “and I’m back.”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Jeremy said, standing up to hold his hand out to Nicole, “again” he said in a whisper that earnt a side glare from Waverly.

“Hey,” Nicole said, turning towards Chrissy, “I’m guessing you’re Chrissy?”

“That would be correct,” she grinned, holding out her hand for Nicole to shake.

Nicole took a seat at the table, looking down at the menu and Jeremy swore he saw her hand shake a little. High pressure situations dealing with perps Nicole could do, but apparently having dinner with her girlfriend’s friends was too much. It didn’t help that both of them seemed to be staring at her from over the tops of their menus. Awkwardness fell like cling film over the table, and Nicole read the same lines over and over again, leaving her completely unprepared and floundering when the waitress came.

~

Eventually the sheet of awkwardness lifted, with the help of Waverly’s ability to steer a conversation (and lots of alcohol, mostly the alcohol) and Nicole was telling them all sorts of stories. Jeremy had even whipped out his classic _I accidentally got on a plane to Venezuela s_ tory that had them all in stitches (even if Waverly _had_ heard it six times), earning them a slight glare from a rather tall waitress (apparently they were lowering the class of the restaurant just by being there.) Waverly talked about Wynonna and her obliviousness to her first girlfriend, dragging out the classic _Wynonna bought the lie that I was giving her CPR_ story that still amazed Chrissy to this day (Wynonna was in a whole other class of obliviousness.) Nicole even brought out some of her police academy stories, which Waverly listened to intently, cocking her head and leaning against the palm of her hand, which internally Jeremy thought was sweet, but externally he pretended to be disgusted by.

“Oh yeah you’re at the academy?”

“Yup fourth year, love it, it’s been my dream to be a cop forever,” Nicole said, blushing a little and looking back down at the (very little) remains of her dessert.

“My dad’s the Sherriff.” Chrissy said casually, spooning another mouthful of her double chocolate fudge brownie ice cream sundae into her mouth.

“Wait you’re Sherriff Nedley’s daughter?” Nicole said, her eyes widening.

“One and only,” Chrissy said, spooning more brownie into her mouth, “He’s spoken about you before,” she grinned.

“He has?”

“Yeah – I guess I should have put two and two together.” Chrissy said absentmindedly, not noticing the way Nicole was blushing, trying to keep a grin off of her face. “He’s proud of you,” Chrissy grinned, not quite knowing the importance of what she was saying as Nicole tried to hide her grin behind a napkin.

Waverly nudged her, smiling, “Of course he’s proud of you – he’d be a fool not to be.” Nicole could do the whole _I’m a bad ass cop who feels no feelings_ routine all day long but Waverly knew at heart Nicole was just a nerdy introvert who wanted people to be proud of her.  She stared up at Nicole, smiling, and Nicole smiled back, reaching to take hold of her hand. Waverly may have stared a little too long and in her periphery vision she swore she saw Jeremy fake vomit, Chrissy rolling her eyes.

“So,” Nicole said, turning back to Jeremy and Chrissy, “are you two dating?”

And Jeremy swore the three of them laughed so hard it rattled through the entire building, and he saw the waitress twitch at her station. Chrissy had gone bright red in the face, and Nicole glanced between the three of them looking like a lost puppy.

“Not even close,” Waverly said, laughing again, taking Nicole’s hand, all four of them laughing now, swirling around the table. Waverly and Jeremy shared a look, Jeremy nodded with a nod that seemed to say _I like this girl._ And Waverly agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I never know where to end a fic...  
> Let me know what you thought!  
> If you wanna talk to me/follow me my tumblr is waverlystation ! (have a nice day :))


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